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121 of 125 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good, March 7, 2010
This review is from: Sony DSC-W370 14.1MP Digital Camera with 7x Wide Angle Zoom with Optical Steady Shot Image Stabilization and 3.0 inch LCD (Silver) (Electronics)
Let me say, I've owned several Sony digital cameras over the years. First a DSC-P50 circa 2001, then a couple of random ones I purchased new and wound up selling because they had poor picture quality. Then in 2005 I purchased a Sony DSC-W7 (7.2 mp) point-and-shoot. This is a good little camera but the PQ has always been a little hit and miss. I would say I got one or two good shots out of every 100.
Some problems with the W7 were autofocus that didn't focus properly (especially in indoor, low-light conditions), redeye was pervasive (even with the redeye reduction feature turned on), and shutter lag time. (One feature I liked about the W7 was the inclusion of an optical viewfinder, which it seems most of the manufacturers have now abandoned on these small digital cameras.)
Most of these problems seem to be addressed with the newest (2010) generation of Sony DSC point-and-shoots. I decided this was the time to replace the W7, and it came down to a choice between a DSC-W330 and DSC-W370. After taking some test photos in the store, and sending those photos to my personal computer at home for analysis, I decided to purchase the W370.
The W370 does not have an optical viewfinder, but it has everything else, and does everything right. The low-light, indoor shooting that the W7 could not handle is not an issue at all for the W370. Each indoor shot has been clear and well-focused, with exquisite background detail in shot after shot. In 10 test shots, only 1 came out bad, whereas with previous Sonys there might be 4 good shots and 6 bad.
The quality is light years ahead of the W330. I was attracted initially to the W330 because of its sleek look and small form factor (the W370 does not have this sex appeal), but the W370 blew the 330 out of the water in terms of photo quality, especially autofocus (always sharp) and redeye reduction (no redeye or hint of redeye at all in shot after shot).
In sum, I purchased the W370 and haven't looked back. This is an excellent little camera and everything a digital camera should be. Takes excellent photos whether indoors or out, natural light or artificial, bright conditions or low, etc. I highly recommend this product.
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22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pros & Cons, March 18, 2010
This review is from: Sony DSC-W370 14.1MP Digital Camera with 7x Wide Angle Zoom with Optical Steady Shot Image Stabilization and 3.0 inch LCD (Silver) (Electronics)
Pros:
-sweep panorama picture is really tremendous
-noob like me can take great pictures using this particular camera
-distant object looks as clear as crystal
-Cool HD Movie (clear pictures, clear sounds, can zoom while recording)
-adjustable in many aspects (scenes, megapixels, timer, etc)
-makes you feel special (really!)
Cons:
-short battery life
-not much memory (I highly suggest you buy a memory card together with this)
-hard to detect smiles
-sounds of camera while zooming is recorded during video mode
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A KEEPER: Almost Returned it after Reading Reviews, June 27, 2010
This review is from: Sony DSC-W370 14.1MP Digital Camera with 7x Wide Angle Zoom with Optical Steady Shot Image Stabilization and 3.0 inch LCD (Silver) (Electronics)
While out in the desert I dropped my Canon SD870 for about the third time in 3 years on a rock and the mirco-gears were no longer in alignment--camera would no longer focus at all. I was heading out on a week trip to extremely remote areas so I needed to buy a camera in one day to take with me. Not having a lot of good value options, I settled on this model and then came home and read the reviews. It was too late to take the camera back and get another one, so I had to live with this choice. So I read the manual and experimented by taking pictures around my house. The following are my thought after using the camera for a few weeks on different trips.
SPEED: Since I am an electrical engineer, it did not long to discover that all of the intelligent smile, red eye and other detection algorithms were taking a lot of processing time slowing down the camera. After turning them all off the seed improved a lot. Next I put in a 4GB Sandisk Class 6 SD memory card and that helped some more. In fact the speed to take still shots was about the same as my old Canon. However, when using the flash it does take about 2-3 seconds to recharge and be ready for taking the next photo, but I can live with that. The camera automatically uses the flash outside more than I like, so I turned it off and it the camera operated faster. All of the intelligent detection algorithms really slow down the camera. With all of them shut off the camera is ready to take a picture in about 1-2 seconds depending on the resolution of the picture your taking. That is about 1 second for a 5M versus 2 seconds for 14.1M of resolution. That is just the time it takes to write the image to the SD card. If you get the class 10 SD cards I am guessing it will be closer to 1 second to write the image to memory.
BATTERY LIFE: There are different modes you can set the camera to operate that control the amount of current used to operate. Because of all of the bad reviews, I set it to the "Stamina" mode as I was going to be away from power sources to recharge the battery and was planning to take lot of pictures. On a trip to Chevelon Canyon to take pictures of Petroglyphs I used it continuously for 3 hours and took 291 5M resolution pictures. I turned it on and off about 50 times that day and after doing this for about 3.5 hours and 291 images later, the battery showed 2 of the 4 bars of still available battery life. I turned it on the next day and took another 100 images and there was still one bar of battery life available. I did not use the flash for any of these pictures. Using it the way I did, would allow taking 400-500 5M resolution pictures which is more than I got with my Canon.
BATTERY CHARGING: My canon took about 30 -45 minutes to charge, but I now think it used a higher current than the Sony and so it gives a quicker, but not as deep of a charge. It was shocking to learn the Sony took about 3 hours to charge. It must be a low current slow charge method which usually makes batteries last longer and hold their charge better.
PICTURE QUALITY: I am not a professional, but people have told me I take good pictures. With that in mind I could not see distortion around the edges and corners as I read in other reviews. Maybe some or one of the auto detection algorithms does compensation that messes up the images? With the camera setup in a minimal auto mode as described above, the pictures I have take are of the same quality as those I took with my SD870--VERY GOOD!
WIDE ANGLE LENS: It does not have the digital zoom lens feature the SD 870 does and it is fantastic compared to the fixed zoom of the W370, and the wide angle is not as wide, but if you move closer or further back a few feet it gets the job done. When your truing to take a picture of a cliff dwelling located on a ledge that is difficult to get closer to, digital zoom is missed.
PHOTO EDITING SOFTWARE: It comes with a reduced function NERO photo editor. They only allow certain functions to get you to buy the package. NERO will not even allow a person to delete a photo from their computer unless they buy the upgrade. Well you can go to where your photos are stored and delete them yourself or just use a good inexpensive photo editor and forget using NERO. I tested the results of the NERO editor against the FREE editing capability in PICASA (free by Google online) and I could not see any difference. I just transfer the images and then use an editor to do the croping, etc.
CONSTRUCTION: I checked out a couple of the canon model for a similar price and they weighted about half as much as the W370 and did not feel like they were built very solidly. This camera is as sturdy as my old SD870. While taking pictures the first day I had to jump from rock to rock over a flowing creek and when I landed on the far side the camera went flying and landed on a large flat & smooth boulder and slide about 6 feet before stopping. I cringed as I picked up the camera hoping at least the pictures were good, since it was such a remote place. After trying the camera it worked fine and I have not found any negative issues with it since. It is a rugged well built camera.
REVIEWERS: I think reviewers often do not read the manual and therefore do not set things up correctly, work for the competition or work for the manufacturer and so there can be a lot of dis-information to sift through. The middle ground reviewers are probably most accurate (LOL)?
OVERALL: This camera is solidly built, has a large 3" diagonal viewer that is easy to read, takes good pictures and a lot of them with one battery when the auto detection features are turned off. It is just what I need and a good value in my opinion for the price. Now, if I had to buy a camera again and had two weeks to get it, know what I now know, I would buy it again.
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